Now right here… we're introduced to someone unexpected. It's not a king. It's not a warrior. It's not a priest. But instead… it's a woman named Deborah. Now… throughout church history... people have argued about Deborah. Some have tried to explain away her leadership. Others have tried to use Deborah… to make arguments… Scripture itself never makes. But folks... we just need to get out of the way… and simply let the Bible speak. The Bible presents Deborah with tremendous honor. She's called three things. First… Deborah Was a Prophetess. Now what does that mean? Folks… it means she spoke God's Word faithfully. Now we need to stop for a moment… and we need to understand what a prophet actually did. Most people hear the word "prophet"… and immediately think of someone who… predicts the future. Now… sometimes prophets did predict the future. But their primary responsibility… was something much greater. A prophet represented God… before the people. They proclaimed God's truth. They called people back to covenant faithfulness. They confronted sin. They encouraged obedience. Matthew Henry once wrote: "The greatest work of a prophet… is not foretelling the future, but bringing men… back to God." Folks... in Judges 4… that's exactly what Deborah was doing. Israel had forgotten God's Word. So God raised up somebody… who would faithfully proclaim it.

Last week we said that there are three things… that we need to learn about faith… that God taught Abraham. And the first thing that we talked about… was the root of Abraham's faith. And what did we say… the root of faith is? The root of faith is this: It's a revelation from God. Remember what we said? We said God must speak …before you can have faith! All faith… is a response of trust… in what God has said! Today I want to pick up where we left off. And I want to talk… not only about the root of Abraham's faith…but also about… the requirement of Abraham's faith.

Tonight... we begin the third major cycle… in the Book of Judges. And before we even read the first verse... I want you to notice something. Each cycle has become progressively worse. Under Cushan-rishathaim... Israel served eight years. Under Eglon... Israel served eighteen years. Now... they're about to face another enemy. One that's more organized. One that's more technologically advanced. One who possesses a military force… unlike anything Israel has faced… since Joshua. They were about to encounter an extremely powerful Canaanite king named… Jabin. And they were about to run head-long into Jabin's Chief Commander… Sisera. And God will once again raise up a new Judge to deliver them… and her name is Deborah. But this chapter… isn't ultimately about Jabin. It isn't primarily about Sisera. It isn't even… first and foremost about Deborah. It is about a God... who continues pursuing His people... even after they repeatedly abandon Him.

If you have God's Word…turn with me this morning…to the book of Genesis. And this morning… I want to start off by asking a question. Is there anything wrong… with wanting to be great? I think most of us would say, "Oh no preacher! We're Christians! We're supposed to be humble! We're not supposed to… "want to be great"! It would be wrong for me to… "want to be great!" Well let me start off by saying this: It would be wrong for you NOT… to want to be great! But in order to be "great"… you have to understand what "true greatness" really is!

So in the Book of Ruth…Ruth makes a choice. She chooses God. And she makes a very wonderful choice… that not only transformed and changed her life… but in a very real sense… has touched your life and my life… because we're gonna see…not only does she become a beautiful picture of redemption and salvation… but she became an ancestress of the Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh! And King David was one of her descendants! Now many times in life… we think we've got it bad! We think things are going badly for us! And we think there's no hope for us! Well…this morning…I want you to think about Ruth for a little while.

Here in Ruth we see a bright hope…a bright hope for dark days. And today… we're going to be talking about… the choices that people make… because you're gonna see that a man named Elimelech made a bad choice. And then in a couple of Sunday's… you're gonna see the choice that Ruth made… which was a wonderful choice. And folks…listen to me…our lives are the sum total of our choices! And so today… we're gonna think about this thought, "It Is Decisions That Determines Destiny." We're going to learn some things about decision making today… the importance of decisions…because we have to make decisions every day… whether we like it or not.

If you will remember…a couple of weeks ago… we began reading 1 Corinthians 15:35. And we began pondering… the answer… to the question: "How … are … the dead … raised … up?" And we said… just like that seed of grain…which appears to die…to decay…to rot…there is still… a germ of life… that stays in that seed! And although the seed appears dead…it springs forth and reproduces new life! The grain of wheat produces a new head of wheat… with grain just like the grain that was buried in the ground! It brings forth new life! Folks…there is a part of you …that never…dies. Just like that grain of wheat…there is that spiritual nature in you …that does…not...die! Well this morning…I want to pick up where we left a couple of weeks ago. And today I want to ask a new question. And the question I want to ask is this. Will we know each other in heaven?

'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. '

If you have God's Word… be finding 1 Corinthians 15. And this morning… (and next week)… we're gonna be talking today about "The Resurrection of The Body". You know… one of these days… there's something very wonderful… that's going to happen to these bodies of ours!

Well…tonight we pick back up with Judges 3:10… and we begin by talking about what happened when God called Othniel? "The Spirit of the LORD came on him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD handed Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram into his control…" (Judges 3:10, HCSB) Folks… it's easy to give up on people isn't it?